Coupling module with a position sensor
AssigneeHübner GmbH & Co. KG
InventorsHeinz Schuster, Frank Klöckl
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A coupling module for coupling a passenger boarding bridge with an aircraft has a floor assembly and a canopy roof spanning the floor assembly. The coupling module and/or the floor assembly is configured to be received at a cabin of a passenger boarding bridge such that the coupling module and/or the floor assembly can swivel relative to the cabin around a horizontal swivel axis. A position sensor is operable to measure an inclination of the floor assembly relative to a geodetic horizontal position.
Claims7
A coupling module for coupling a passenger boarding bridge with an aircraft, comprising:
- a floor assembly having a walkable surface;
- a canopy roof spanning the floor assembly;
- a support body centrally disposed with respect to a transverse direction under the floor assembly, a swivel axis defined perpendicularly to the transverse direction and disposed under the walkable surface of the floor assembly;
- the coupling module configured to be received at a cabin of a passenger boarding bridge such that the coupling module can swivel relative to the cabin around the swivel axis;
- a position sensor operable to measure an inclination of the floor assembly relative to a geodetic horizontal position;
- and
- a control unit operable to interact with the position sensor and a swivel motor, the control unit being operable via the position sensor and swivel motor to maintain or move the floor assembly into the geodetic horizontal position independently from a movement of the passenger bridge and of the cabin.
A control system for controlling a swivel movement of a coupling module that is received at a cabin of a passenger boarding bridge for coupling the passenger boarding bridge to an aircraft, the coupling module of the type having a canopy roof and a floor assembly spanned by the canopy roof and wherein the swivel movement relative to the cabin can be performed around a horizontal swivel axis, comprising:
- a position sensor by means of which a horizontal position of the floor assembly relative to a geodetic horizontal position can be adjusted;
- a control unit operable to interact with the position sensor and a swivel motor, wherein the control unit is operable via the position sensor and swivel motor to maintain or move the floor assembly into a geodetic horizontal position independently from a movement of the passenger bridge and of the cabin;
- and
- a support body centrally disposed with respect to a transverse direction under the floor assembly, the swivel axis defined perpendicularly to the transverse direction and disposed under a walkable surface of the floor assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.